Palace Chapel

From 1743 Maria Theresa commissioned leading artists of the day to give the chapel a new and sumptuous interior. The marble high altar with lateral pilasters, finished with a rounded pediment, was probably designed by Nikolaus Pacassi, and is crowned by a gilded sculpture of the Holy Trinity, executed by Franz Kohl, a pupil of Georg Raphael Donner.

The altarpiece depicting the Marriage of Mary and Joseph was commissioned from Paul Troger, one of the most outstanding Baroque artists in Austria. The altar table supports a massive marble tabernacle in the form of a tempietto flanked by two adoring angels, the door of which is embellished with a gilt relief of a pietà.

There are two further altars on each of the two side walls. Depicting the Education of the Virgin Mary and St John of Nepomuk, the paintings are by the Venetian artist Giovanni Battista Pittoni, who worked at many European courts. The two other altars are in the form of framed alcoves, each containing a gilt lead statue representing the Mother of Sorrows and St John the Baptist. Both statues were cast by Franz Kohl.

The painting on the chapel ceiling was executed by Daniel Gran, another leading artist of the Austrian Baroque era. It shows Mary Magdalene surrounded by allegorical representations of the Christian virtues of faith hope and charity.

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